Addison Morton (Mort) Walker
Artist/cartoonist. Born: September 3, 1923. Died: January 27, 2018
If long-term public admiration for artwork is at least a part of a successful artist's measure, then Mort Walker was one of the most successful artists in the world. Born in El Dorado, Mort came by his artistic talents honestly. His father was an architect and his mother was a designer and illustrator.
Mort began selling cartoons at the age of 12 and was a designer at Kansas City's Hallmark Cards at 19. After service in Europe during World War II he worked for the Dell Publishing Company and also sold art work to the Saturday Evening Post and the New Yorker magazines.
In 1950 Mort created a comic strip about a young college student named Spider who wore his cap down over his eyes. Editors at the King Features Syndicate liked the character but told him to change his hero's name. So, he became Beetle Bailey. The popularity of the strip grew very slowly. Mort decided to enlist his character into the Army, but kept his hat pulled down over his eyes. New characters were introduced, such as Sarge, modeled after Mort's sergeant in the Army and Lieutenant Fuzz, who was modeled after Mort. More characters were added to the strip. Their humorous personalities were mirrored by their names. General Halftrack, Lieutenant Flap, Plato, Rocky, Killer, Zero, Sarge's dog Otto and numerous other characters make Camp Swampy a constantly funny place.
In addition to Beetle Bailey, Mort was also involved in the production of the comic strip Hi and Lois (Beetle's sister) and other projects. His readership was estimated at 150 million. Mort wrote over 100 books. His work has been exhibited all over the world. He won many awards and worked to encourage the enjoyment of cartoons.
Walker passed away on January 27, 2018 at the age of 94.
Entry: Walker, Addison Morton (Mort)
Author: G. Joseph Pierron
Author information: Judge Pierron serves on the Kansas Court of Appeals and has an interest in Kansas history.
Date Created: November 2012
Date Modified: December 2024
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
